Dehradun, April 16
Uttarakhand Forest Guards have gone on an indefinite strike from today even as fire in state’s forests rages all over and the yatra season in just around the corner. The forest guards are seeking better promotion opportunities and better pay scales.

As many as 3,650 forest guards started their stir this morning boycotting all routine works and leaving Uttarakhand forests more vulnerable. These guards said while there was a lot of vacancies in higher category posts, forest guards were not being given opportunity to serve in these posts, thus forcing them into stagnation.

The forest guards’ strike comes at a time when summers are at its peak and forest fires are fast picking up in the forest areas of the state. The forest guards play a pivotal role in curbing these fires and their stir could spell a lot of trouble for the forest authorities.

Protecting state wildlife is also the primary responsibility of these forest guards. They man critical habitat like the Corbett National Park, Nandadevi Biosphere and the Rajaji National Park. While around 120 forest guards have been deployed at Asiatic elephant-famous Rajaj National Park, 153 are posted at tiger-famous Corbett and another 150 guards are deployed at Nandadevi Biosphere. The stir will definitely affect the security at these protected areas.

“We will continue with the stir till our genuine concerns are met”, said RR Painuily, general secretary of the Uttarakhand Forest Guards Association. He said the plight of forest guards of Uttarakhand could be gauged from the fact that many of these guards had retired on the very posts on which they had started decades ago. He said in paradox the Uttarakhand Indian Forest Service and State Forest Service officers had reaped rich promotional benefits.

“Similarly, there are at present 500 vacant posts of forester, that is immediate senior designation to forest guard. These posts can be filled with forest guards through promotions,” Painuily pointed out, adding that the higher forest authorities are least interested to do the same. He said stagnation was affecting the morale of these forest guards, who were backbone to the field workings of the state Forest Department.

Meanwhile, Office of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests has ruled out any instant crisis due to the strike. The office confirmed that dialogue process was in progress and other forest officials have been asked to work as alternative to the agitating forest guards. “We are holding talks with the striking forest guards and are hopeful of a solution,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat said.

However, there are fears that if the stir goes for long it could be detrimental to the working of the Forest Department, particularly at this time of the year.

Haridwar, April 16
Though less than a fortnight left for the completion of the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar, a political battle has already begun over the mega fair. With the BJP-led state government trying to take honours for the successful hosting of the Kumbh, its main political rival Congress has termed the ongoing Kumbh as successful in terms of pilgrims but failure on account of the administration.

Lashing out at the state government for trying to take credentials for everything even the Central-government funded projects, senior district Congress leader Kiran Singh remarked that BJP government had violated all democratic norms.

Citing advertisements of inauguration of a health centre at Shivalik Nagar by state Health Minister Balwant Singh Bhauriyal, Kiran said such was the craze for putting their name plates on everything that BJP had forgotten that local Parliamentarian Harish Rawat had already a fortnight ago inaugurated the health centre.

“In the Kumbh too most of the projects were of inferior quality and were delayed yet the sign plates were made months ago and everyone from the Chief Minister to state Urban Minister wanted to have their name while they ignored the local parliamentarian. Is this not a pseudo political game that was played by the BJP?” questioned Kiran.

City Congress chief OP Chauhan pointed out that the mela administration had failed in successfully organising the mega event in Haridwar. He pointed out the stampede could have been avoided had the administration taken cognisance of poor shape of the bridge.

“The BJP has failed in providing good governance and even organising Kumbh properly. Mela administrative officials played in the hands of the BJP government and pilgrims’ woes were not properly addressed to” said Chauhan.

Warning BJP state government of repercussions, Yuva Morcha chief Rajeev Chaudhary condemned Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and DIG Alok Sharma for terming the Birla Bridge incident as a normal one which did happen in organising of such mega events.

The party is also planning to stage a major demonstration to expose the frailties of the state government and corruption in the Kumbh mela works.

Pitthoragarh, April 16
Keeping special developmental needs of Uttarakhand, the 13th Finance Commission has recommended a special package of Rs 700 crore for four years beginning from financial year 2011-12.

“This special package includes Rs 88 crore for the construction of an assembly house, Rs 150 crore for laying sewer lines in Dehradun, opening of five nursing training colleges in Pitthoragarh, Almora, Pauri Garhwal, Chamoli and Tehri Garhwal at a cost of of Rs 100 crore, a sum of Rs 100 crore for electrification of tourist places, a separate amount for opening a cultural centre and a police training centre and a sum of Rs 105 crore for five border districts of the state,” said Uttarakhand Water Resources and Planning Minister Prakash Pant, who hails from Pitthoragarh.

The 13th Finance Commission has recommended a sum of Rs 20,308.10 crore for a period of five years beginning from 2010. This amount includes 
a sum of Rs 16,245.10 crore as state’s share in Central taxes, Rs 1,000 crore as performance incentive and a sum of Rs 781.20 crore for the Panchayati Raj Institutions and local bodies.

“The Finance Commission has not compensated the non-plan revenue deficit this time as had been done by the last two finance commissions,” 
said Pant.

When Uttarakhand came into existence in 2000, it was covered by the 11th Finance Commission, which recommended a sum of Rs 5,295.98 crore out of which Rs 4,984.61 crore was the share of state in Central taxes.

During the tenure of the 12th Finance Commission, the state recommended a sum of Rs 12,194.34 crore out of which Rs 5,762.22 crore was the state’s share in Central taxes.

“This commission, keeping in view the financial needs of newly emerged state, had provided a sum of Rs 5,114.68 crore to compensate the revenue deficit in the state which the 13th Finance Commission has not done,” said Pant.

The 13th Finance Commission has also requested the states to pursue the financial improvement and minimise the revenue deficit. Even the 12th Financial Commission had required from the states to keep the treasury deficit at 3 per cent of the GDP.

“But, due to worldwide economic recession, the state could not keep the treasury deficit at the required level and the Central government raised this limit up to 4 per cent. Now, the 13th Finance Commission has required to finish the revenue deficit of the state by 2013-14. It should not be beyond 3 per cent of state’s GDP,” said Pant.

Pant said the state would not face financial difficulties after the Finance Commission has abolished the subsidy on revenue deficit as the state would get 90 per cent of its total plan outlay from the Planning Commission as it fell under the backward category and non-plan expenditure of the state would be met from state’s own resources. 

Mussoorie, April 16
The festival of Bissu was held at Devi Kol, 50 km from Mussoorie, amidst fervor and gaiety yesterday. The villagers from Kharak, Bangaon, Chilamou, Koti, Pab, Mel Gad Kandi, Sarab and Bel walked on foot to the religious shrine of Devi Kol, at a height of 5,500 feet above sea level. Prayers were held thanking Goddess for the harvest.

The devotees offered prasad at Maha Bhadra Kali Temple early in the morning. Later, the villagers presented folk songs and local dance like Tandi, Jhenta and Dhumsu, reverberating to the beats of Dhol.

The villagers dressed in local attire for the festival. The secretary of the Mandir Samiti, Devi Kol, SS Kharkai said the culture of the region is related to the Pandava era as the villagers consider Pandavas their ancestors.

Every village courtyard has a “Pandava Chauri’ where the symbolic weapons used by the Pandavas are displayed and worshipped on every auspicious occasion.

The Bissu mela is celebrated after the culmination of another festival called Fulyath or Fulyari. Local children play Holi with the powder of Tesu flowers on the day of Baisakhi.

Bissu was an important festival in the calendar of the region. He further said the fair reflected the cultural heritage and tradition of Jaunpur and thus the government should promote Devi Kol as a cultural tourism destination. 

Mussoorie, April 16
Taking cognisance of report published in The Tribune “Titled Mussoorie Breathes Toxic Air”, the Congress activists led by Mussoorie President and MLA Jot Singh Gunsola presented a memorandum to SDM Mussoorie Jharna Kamthan demanding relief from burning toxic garbage and the Palika dumping ground since last one week.

Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola said the residents and tourists were getting ill after breathing toxic air in last one week and the authorities have taken no notice of it till now which was uncalled for.

Mussoorie Congress president Bhagwan Singh Dhanai also said the air has reached dangerous levels and one Palika Karamchari working at the dump site is already dead and the risk of illness has surfaced once again.

He also raised the issue of theft at the house of senior citizen which was remained unsolved yet.

Dhanai also said the electricity cut for two hours was also hurting the business of the town. Several other issues like shortage of drinking water supply and admissions in school were also raised today.

The activists warned that if these issues were not solved, they would be forced to agitate on the streets of the town. 

Dehradun, April 16
A pilgrim from Bareilly, who suffered injuries in the Haridwar stampede, is battling for life in the ICU ward of the Doon Hospital, while another victim, a woman, has also been admitted to the hospital.

“Seventy-year-old Raghuwar Dayal is suffering from multiple defuse haemaoma (brain) besides multiple injuries on his chest,” said Dr Manu Jain, an ICU expert at the Doon Hospital. Kamla Devi from Jammu, who got separated from her husband, is recovering fast and may be discharged in a day or two.

Kamla said: “I had already taken the Shahi Snan in the morning and later in the day decided to watch the procession of sadhus along with my husband and eight members of the group when the incident occurred. I fell unconscious and found myself admitted to the hospital.”

Inability to communicate in Hindi with the hospital staff is also posing a problem for the authorities to locate her family. “As the woman is unable to converse in Hindi, it will take a while before her family members arrive, but we are trying to do as much as we can,” said Dr RK Pant, CMS, Doon Hospital. 

Pitthoragarh, April 16
State BJP president Bishan Singh Chufal has claimed that under the leadership of Nitin Gadkari, the BJP will gain its lost ground and will come as a fresh and energetic party in the next Lok Sabha elections to come back to power. “The last leadership of the BJP has done great harm to the party as it remained involved in factionalism and mudslinging,” said Chufal.

Chufal, who was here today, said the atmosphere of disappointment which prevailed among the BJP workers nationwide after the last Lok Sabha elections had now disappeared and the BJP cadres were enthusiastic and hopeful after Gadkari took over as the BJP national president.

Referring to the situation of the BJP in Uttarakhand, Chufal said under his leadership the party aimed to spread the government’s achievements to every nook and corner of the state and hoped to win the 2012 Assembly elections on the basis of the achievements of the present BJP state government. “We have no faction inside the party in Uttarakhand as reported in some sections of the media citing the name of BC Khanduri, former Chief Minister”.

The party will use Khanduriji’s talents at required time and required place,” said Chufal.

“Even the five Congress MPs are not raising the issues of industrial package, refusal of concession given by former union governments in the Army recruitment to the youth of border villages, rising prices and other issues related to the welfare of people of the state,” he added. 

Haldwani, April 16
Top-level agricultural economists at Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology have stated the price of hill potato in the coming monsoon will be relatively high.

A team of experts led by Dr Jagdish Kumar of the Department of Agricultural Economics has forecast that the price of hill tomato will range from Rs 14 to Rs 19 per kg. Dr Kumar said a sub-project of National Agriculture Innovation Project entitled “Establishing and Networking of Market Intelligence Centres in India” is at present underway at Pantnagar. According to him, the main objective of the project is to release price forecasts of selected agricultural commodities before sowing and during harvesting to give farmers an idea about the cost of their produce beforehand.

The project team of Pantnagar Centre had conducted a market survey of Haldwani regulated market, a major market for hill potato in Uttarakahand, and analysed the wholesale price data prevalent for the past 20 years. The econometric analysis indicated that the wholesale prices of hill potato in the Haldwani market would be ranging from Rs 14 to Rs 16 per kg in July, 2010, and from Rs 14 to Rs 18 per kg in August, 2010. In September, 2010, the wholesale price of hill potato in Haldwani market is expected to be between Rs 15 and Rs 19 per kg. However, the traders of the market expect the prices to range from Rs 12.50 to Rs 16 per kg during these months.

It is being inferred that prices of hill potato are expected to prevail between Rs 14 and Rs 19 per kg from July to September this year.

“Hence, the hill farmers have been advised by scientists to decide the area under potato crop considering these forecast prices and other climatic conditions suitable for the crop,” said a spokesperson for the university.

The spokesperson added: “According to trader’s survey, July, August and September are the peak arrival months while May, October and November the lean months for the hill potato produce in the Haldwani market. The traders also indicated that the sowing conditions of the potato are expected to be better compared to previous year.”

Dehradun, April 16
A two-day training workshop of forest officers being organised at State Forests Services College, Dehradun, in assistance with Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) concluded here with the workshop recommending amendments in training schedule for forest officials up till the rank of Assistant Conservator of Forests.

Ajay Kumar, Director (Forestry Education), said the recommendation of the workshop would be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, who would be further sending it to the state for implementation in the forestry training schools.

The recommendation mostly caters to improvement in training mechanism and changing times. As many as four groups of participating forest officers were constituted that looked into each and every aspect of training schedule.

The workshop was attended by 27 forest officers prominently from states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. 

Dehradun, April 16
Kavi Sammelan of Grafest 2010 of Graphic Era University was entirely a fun-filled event here yesterday. Famous comedians and humorists mesmerised the whole function by their anecdotes and comical poems.

The artistes were richly applauded for their performances that stole the limelight in the late night.

The event commenced with the welcome speech of Kamal Ghanshala, Chairman of Graphic Era University, followed by the inaugural ceremony by chief guest Narayan Singh Rana, a senior BJP leader.

Besides the captivating night of hilarious comedy, the best comedian was also awarded with Rs 1 lakh, which went to Dr Ashok Chakradhar, senior comedian and vice-president of Central Hindi Institute.

Everybody enjoyed the event and appreciated the performances till the wee hours. Pravin Shukla coordinated the programme.

Dehradun, April 16
From higher-ups to now lower rungs, the “altercation spirit” is percolating down to all levels on the DMC premises these days. The election announcement of sanitary workers union by MNA Indu Dhar Bodai has stirred a hornet’s nest in the already chaotic scenario of the MC.

On one hand, Hari Om, general secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Safai Mazdoor Sangh has welcomed this move, on the other Semu Selvan, president of the Swachkar Karamchari Sangh, has vehemently opposed the elections. Mayor Vinod Chamoli too slammed arbitrariness of the MNA in bypassing the DMC Board while deciding on union’s election on his own.

Amid all these exchange of bickerings, Ravi Pandey, election officer, has begun preparations for the election.

A day before, the MNA had given orders to hold the election of sanitary workers within a month’s period, and deputed Ravi Pandey for the task. The election which are supposed to be held after every two years has been pending for the past three years after it was held earlier in 2005 where Semu Selvan of the BJP group was elected president.

Hailing this new turnaround, Hari Om said: “We have been continuously demanding to hold a fresh election as the present union is serving beyond its tenure. But, since the present union and the Mayor both belong to the BJP, so the Mayor has been postponing the fresh election to safeguard its voters, which is gross injustice to all other unions. But, now with the new MNA, who is known for his strictness, in saddle we are hopeful of fresh election any time.”

A miffed Semu Selvan and his group accused the MNA of playing dirty politics and creating further ripples in the volatile atmosphere of the DMC. Selvan said: “The MNA is settling a score with us for lending support to Mayor’s hoarding policy. We supported the policy as it will augment the DMC revenue and enable the corporation to pay our due arrears. But, now the MNA wants to teach us a lesson by tampering with the election to defeat us. Therefore, we will oppose this election unless the MNA is replaced.”

Selvan also arraigned opposition leader Ashok Verma and other Congress councillors to be hand in glove with the MNA in the conspiracy. He also said in the past also, elections had been postponed for long time. There was no fixed criterion for this.

The Mayor chided the MNA for indulging in knee-jerk reactions in response to his stand against him. He said: “The MNA is doing things in a random manner just to cock a snook at him. Such decisions will not be fruitful in the long run. Moreover, he is announcing workers’ election on his own, whereas it is the prerogative of the DMC Board, an authority elected by the public in a democratic manner. In the DMC, democracy has been put on stake by the state government to serve its vested purpose.”

Far from the volley of accusations, Ravi Pandey, election officer, has got busy with the election preparation from today as he said: “I have been directed by the MNA to start preparation for the union’s election. In a week’s period, I’ll finalise the dates for nomination, selection and allotment of symbols, polling and most importantly for the list of new and eligible voters with the assistance of Municipal Health Officers.”